Press Release

HARRISBURG, Pa. - The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) today approved the contribution rates of two counties for local 911 systems.

The PUC approved the 911 System Renewal Plans received from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) for Dauphin and Perry counties.

The Public Safety Emergency Telephone Act of 1990 provides for a statewide 911 emergency communication system to be administered by PEMA. The law allows counties to recover the cost for 911 systems by assessing a fee on every telephone line. The local phone companies collect the fees for the county. The maximum fee that can be collected per telephone line is $1 for first and second class counties, $1.25 for third through fifth class counties and $1.50 for sixth through eight class counties.

Dauphin County, a third class county, is not requesting any change in the current contribution rate of $1.25 per access line per month. The county has a population of approximately 218,856. Bell Atlantic, CTSI, Commonwealth Telephone, TDS Telecom, GTE, United Telephone, Nextlink and Adelphia Business serve the county.

Perry County, a seventh class county, is not requesting any change in the current contribution rate of $1.07 per access line per month. Perry County’s service area has a population of approximately 21,787. United Telephone serves the county.

The PUC is responsible for reviewing the contribution rate requested by the county and forwarding a decision to PEMA. The PUC has 90 days to submit its recommendations to PEMA as to whether the counties proposed contribution rate should be approved or modified.

For recent news releases, or more information about the PUC, visit our Internet homepage: http://puc.paonline.com.

###